


i have known you my whole life, but suddenly, it feels as though i have known you since the beginning

by Gendice



Category: FE3H, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Claude is a nerd, F/F, Fluff, One Shot, Reincarnation, aka holy crap this painting looks a lot like me au, claude gets a lot of the spotlight in this fic smh, is it fluff tho? is it really nah, spoiler warning for hildamari paired ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:40:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23372557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gendice/pseuds/Gendice
Summary: Spoilers for the Hilda/Marianne paired ending."The accessories sent to Marianne personally by Hilda became some of the most highly valued treasures in history."Set in modern-day Fodlan, two girls on a class field trip find themselves drawn to a jewelry exhibit that is strikingly familiar. A Hildamari Reincarnation AU one-shot.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril, hildamari - Relationship, marihilda - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 103





	i have known you my whole life, but suddenly, it feels as though i have known you since the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for checking out this quick fic I wrote! I hope you can take some liberty with the glaringly obvious plot holes in the fic, I'm not all too familiar with how to write reincarnation AUs. If you enjoy it, let me know in the comments!

"FIELD TRIP! FIELD TRIP!" Hilda giddily hooted into the dense interior of the bus, pumping her fists up and down. The rest of the Golden Deer paid no attention, besides her faithful friend Marianne, who returned the cheer with a soft smile.

It's something Hilda had learned over the past seven years that they'd been friends. The more obnoxiously energetic Hilda became, the wider the smile grew on Marianne's lips. With enough pestering, that thin line could curtsy into a gracious beam. It was valuable information to Hilda, knowing how to make Marianne smile.

"You didn't forget to bring money, did you?" Hilda asked. Her heart sung a little when the timid girl's eyes popped open. Marianne's hands scurried to open her purse.

"Oh dear," she fretted, making Hilda giggle. "Um- I'm sorry, Hilda."

Hilda scooched in closer, bowing her head to take a peek into the purse." "What are you apologizing for?"

Marianne's fingers scratched at the faux leather sides of the bag with worry. "Well, you texted me last night to not forget," she began in her light, shrill voice, "so I followed your advice to leave my wallet by my bedside counter, but in the morning I was in such a rush to get ready that I completely forgot!"

"It's alright, Marianne," Hilda returned, taking her pastel-pink wallet out of her purse. "I knew you'd forget, so I brought a little extra for you. Can't have you starving all day!"

"Oh!" Marianne gasped again. "Ah, um, thank you. I feel a little embarrassed now..."

Hilda cheekily grinned. "It's no problem. I'm such a good friend, aren't I?" She noted, sweeping her pink pigtails aside in a playful manner.

As usual, Marianne returned Hilda's little performance with a smile. "Yes. I think you know me better than anyone else does."

When those words came out of Marianne's mouth, Hilda instinctively turned away to hide the heat she felt coming onto her cheeks, deciding to flop her head against the bus window. "Don't say things like that, Marianne. Reserve that kind of talk for your sweethearts." For a little moment, she wished her head was instead leaning on Marianne's shoulder, which was probably very soft and lovely, instead of the rackety window that was shaking at the speed of light.

From behind her, she heard the quiet ramblings between Raphael and Ignatz. Well, mostly the ramblings of Ignatz, who was pouring out an entire speech to his poor friend about every exhibit he planned to visit in the museum. It was his idea in the very beginning to visit it in the first place. Hilda had to admit he had more guts in him than she had imagined, seeing as he managed to somehow convince their professor to approve the trip.

"The museum is currently displaying works of art created between the Imperial year 1100 to 1300," he said. "That's two hundred years to cover! Not to mention the amount of art that sprouted after the war. Raphael, we're in for a lucky treat!"

"It's not like people _didn't_ make art during the war," a snippy, high-pitched voice chimed in. "If anything, some people made sure to record all of the war's events through the arts and other crafts in order to preserve history."

"If I were you, though, I wouldn't bother with the earlier decades," said Lorenz. Where the hell was he even sitting? Hilda didn't care enough to swivel around and check. She couldn't believe that this class was full of nerds. The only other loser who hadn't added in to the geeky discussion was Claude, though he definitely knew more about Fodlan's history than the rest of the class, being the history nerd that he was. At least he never made a show of it besides completely wrecking other Quiz bowl teams.

"I'm sorry, I just can't believe you're actually invested during history," Hilda confessed to him at one point during the school year. "It's crazy. Seeing your hand perk up to answer one of Professor's questions, like you'ree goody-two-shoes, is soooo out of character for you, Claude."

"What can I say?" he replied aloofly. "It feels like it's my duty to know."

"How? Are you the heir to some great line of royalty, destined to bear its history and crimes?"

He laughed. "Maybe."

Maybe he was lying then, maybe he wasn't. She glanced over at Claude now, who was definitely violating school rules by taking up the entire length of the bus seat with his body. His long, long legs were dangling off the side. Really, how had he not managed to tumble off yet, lying on his back like that?

"Um, Hilda?" Marianne suddenly questioned to her left.

She instantly perked up. "Yeah?"

"Well... if you don't have any other plans, I overheard Ignatz mentioning that there was a jewelry exhibit in the museum. I was thinking that maybe we could go visit it together, if you'd like."

It was like pure bliss was flooding through Hilda's chest. "Oh, sure! I thought it was a given that we'd stick together."

Marianne's cheeks gained a rosy tint. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with it."

"Of course I'm okay with it. You think I'd rather be stuck with _them?_ " Hilda said, signaling to the looney club sitting behind them.

Marianne smiled. "Maybe we should listen to them once in a while. Some of the artifacts they mentioned that are on display in this museum actually sound quite interesting."

"Oh... not you too, Marianne. Well, you can explain them to me when we get there."

+++

Claude walked up a few steps forward until he stopped at the very top of the platform which led to the museum. "Alright, everyone!" He cleared his throat, looking at the class of students below him. "As class leader, I feel obligated to remind you guys that we can't go fooling around and stuff inside of the building, and... um... No touching the paintings, and, oh! No touching the statues either. Or the jewelry, or-"

"We get it, Claude," Leonie yelled from the far back.

He exhaled a sigh of relief. "Good. Let's proceed! Don't forget to bring your wallets, since I'm pretty sure they serve lunch in there."

At this, Hilda lightly nudges Marianne, who had squirmed when Claude mentioned the point about wallets.

Following Claude into the grandiose structure were Ignatz and Lysithea, of course, then the rest of the class. Their professor lagged behind in the back, not because they felt a parental duty to watch over the class, but rather because they had absolutely little to no interest in seeing whatever this museum had to offer.

Though the class was technically allowed to split up inside the museum ("Yeah, whatever," were Professor's words, to be exact), they found themselves hovering from one room to the next in a collective herd.

It was boring dead person after boring dead person. They were alive and well, for sure, in the paintings, but dead all the same in Hilda's eyes. Who cared about these kings and nobles? She could hardly pronounce any of their names right.

She skimmed across the text written next to some random portrait she didn't even bother to look at. "How do you pronounce... Blay-ded? Bly-did?" _Blaiddyd._ Whoever decided to make that a last name clearly did not take into consideration the practicality of both spelling it and pronouncing it.

"Hilda, look at how pretty this family portrait is!" Marianne said. "Hm... 'Gloucester'. That's the name of the family line., I suppose. 'One of the ruling families within the Leicester Alliance'..."

But Hilda was preoccupied with something else within the painting. Specifically, the face of the adolescent boy on the right of the painting.

"Marianne," she said quietly. "Tell me that does not look like Lorenz."

Marianne interrogated the figure. "Now that you're mentioning it, I do suppose they share very similar eyes."

Hilda looked around the room, but he was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, she'll just take a picture now and send it to him for further inspection. "Oh man," she chuckled, sending the text, "they have the same snobby smile, too."

As it turned out, not only had Lorenz disappeared, but the rest of the class did as well. Where had they gone?

"Aw, that's too bad," Hilda sighed dramatically. "Guess it's just you and me now, Marianne, alone together-"

"Hilda! Marianne!" Raphael hollered from the room behind them. "You guys have to see this- we found a statue that looks like Claude!"

_Damn it, Raphael. I thought you had my back._

This new room was filled with tall stone and marble statues. Life-sized sculptures of men and women in armor flocked among the sides of the long hall, standing in valiant poses despite that most of them had missing limb parts or a thick gash wedged into their stone heads. The statues that took up space in the center of the room were the largest, most detailed, and also the best preserved.

When Hilda reached _the_ statue, the one that the class was huddled over, she nearly burst into tears. "PFFFFT! You're telling me that CLAUDE looks anything like this hunk of a dude?!"

She waited expectantly for his usual snarky remark, but none came. The class president was silent, for the first time, and entirely transfixed on the gray man that stood in front of him.

The man who was adorned in large patterned clothing was propped on one knee, his heels digging into the stone. He was an archer of some sort, for he was pulling back the string of an intricately detailed bow which covered half of his face, a single arrow harnessed and prepped to shoot into the museum ceiling. Though his form was sturdy, there was a subtle nimbleness in the way his fingers were curled on the string and arrow, almost like he was playing an instrument.

"If every arrow that an archer shoots sings a tune, what would the arrow that pierces the enemy's heart sound like?" Lorenz sighed melodramatically. It was like he just read her mind.

Oh no, was she beginning to turn into a nerd like him, too? Was she actually beginning to question the deeper meanings behind pebbles and rocks?

Without hesitation, Hilda made a run for it. She grabbed Marianne's arm and proceeded to drag her away from the sight. "L-let's go see the jewelry!" She fervently squeaked.

As she dashed away, she couldn't help but look over her shoulder. Hilda had never seen Claude so... helplessly entranced like that before. The two had always been close friends, even though neither of them wanted to admit it to one another. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't someone who easily let his emotions and inner thoughts overcome him.

They had reached some other large entrance room that branched off into several other corridors. Most of the visitors here were taking a quick break on the benches or were asking for help from the assistance desk.

"Um... Hilda? Are you alright?" Marianne asked, wincing. "You're holding my hand a little hard."

Hilda staggered, realizing that she had a death grip over poor Marianne's fingers. She loosened her hold. "Oh! Yeah, I'm okay," she replied. "I just hope that Claude doesn't get too creeped out by his stone doppelganger. Sorry about your hand."

"It's alright," Marianne assured her, not that it alleviated Hilda's guilt at all. _Good job, Hilda,_ she thought to herself bitterly. _You're definitely playing your cards right today._

Marianne must've noticed her dismayed expression, for soon after Hilda felt something soft gently press into her hand. When she looked down, she found that it was Marianne, who was shyly kneading her thumb against it.

+++

"Here we are!" Hilda exclaimed, pointing with her free hand at the large bold text pasted onto the entryway wall. "Letters and Trinkets'” She read allowed. She took a look at the smaller paragraph written underneath it.

"' The following pieces of jewelry on display in this exhibit belonged to a noblewoman in the early 1200's. They were discovered alongside a collection of letters sent to her by the artisan, who historians believed to be her long-distance lover. By correlating each ornament with the descriptions provided in the messages, this exhibit is able to feature every work of art alongside the letter that it was sent with.' "

There was something different about this room. Well, to begin with, it was much dimmer, and greatly exceeded in its length than in other exhibits, which all had square dimensions. Its form took an upside-down "L" shape, but Hilda could barely see the sharp right turn the room made. This half of the hallway, as far as they could tell, was mostly a collection of smaller crafts, like earrings and charms. And they were _beautiful._

Hilda was always a fan of ornate, glitzy accessories, the kind where the artist had obviously spent hours and hours pouring meticulous detail in every millimeter. Minimalism was cute and all, but it seemed like this craftsperson had no idea what the word meant, and Hilda was _ravishing_ in it. This ancient person only knew the adjectives "flashy", "pretentious", and "brilliant". It made Hilda feel ashamed of wearing stud earrings today instead of something more flirty.

Each piece of work was generously spaced out among the sides of the patterned walls. Encased in various pedestals stood close-eyed, ghastly mannequins. The colorful jewels that they slung around their necks and ears made their white skin look practically translucent like a ghost was modeling the artifacts. Tastefully morbid.

"It's like they were all made for you, Marianne," Hilda giggled. "Look! The jewels in these earrings have the same color as your baby-blue hair."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had the pleasure to wear these, especially if they were crafted and gifted to me. Wearing them would fluster me so much that I wouldn't be able to show them off to anyone else!"

Her friend smiled, but Hilda noticed that as Marianne's eyes grazed across some of the displays, she'd ever-so-often skim her fingers over her own ears, or trace them across her wrist.

It was then that Hilda noticed that... well, that ring looked like it could slip onto Marianne's fingers perfectly. And the design on that hairclip, she felt like she had seen it being worn before. She could almost feel her fingers smoothing over its beady surface.

The wall of charms, earrings, and rings parted from them as they turned to the last section of the exhibit. This corner was dedicated to the necklaces, and it was clear that these were the most prized possessions the museum had the privilege of featuring. There were only several display cases, two on the left, two on the right, and one placed in the center, the star of the show. Beyond it were the metal exit doors.

Both Hilda and Marianne found themselves gravitating towards the necklace that proudly presented itself in the middle of the dimly lit room. It sprawled its lustrous silver wings over the entire model. Comprising the brightest metal and the most vibrant sapphire and morganite, it was more befitting for a goddess than a mere human.

The plaque next to it read: "Necklaces of this size, intricacy, and value are typically given to crown princesses and queens. This noblewoman was fortunate enough to win the affection of such an artisan willing to create her masterpieces that price at millions of dollars in modern-day. Indeed, the love this couple has shared over the course of their lifetime has created some of the most highly valued treasures in history."

Vinyl lettering spanned throughout the entirety of the right face of the glass cube. The transcripted letter. Something inexplicably drew Hilda to it. Oh, how desperately she wished to see the authentic parchment itself. Just to see if maybe, maybe they had the same handwriting.

"My love,

With this, I've sent another adornment- a necklace. I think of it as my finest work, mostly because it took me quite some time to gather all the materials for it. I was thinking of you that whole period of time, of course. You're always the model I use for my works, even though you're not here with me. I know your body well enough.

In some time, I'll be sending over an artist to paint a portrait of you, whether you like it or not. I need to see how you look in everything I've been sending. You're always so enthusiastic about receiving my gifts that I find my hands automatically beginning to toil over another accessory, as much as I would like to stop and allow you to take a break from my constant presents. If you ever tire from your endlessly growing collection, I advise you find some of the girls or boys that were in our house during the good old days at the monastery...... (Note: the sender here is referring to the war of 1185.)

Ah yes, the good old days, educating ourselves on mathematics one day and egregiously fighting for our lives the next. We had fun, didn't we? I'm certainly happy that Fodlan has come far from where it began when we first entered the monastery, but I can't help but notice that my life has not gotten any easier since we won the war. I did not take into consideration that beginning an artisan academy would actually take work and effort on my behalf. Nor that my good-for-nothing brother is constantly barraging me with problems of his own life.

Remember when I first confessed to you? I had gone and asked our _professor_ on what they thought about love. 'I know nothing of love, only that people will waste their entire life away trying to understand it.' They told me back.

'What do you have against those people?' I said back.

They looked up from their journal. 'Nothing.I'm sure love is something that's very well worth wasting your life away for.'

Well... it seemed more poetic in my head. But there is a small chance, as I am recognizing now, that they were just being sarcastic with me. I think our professor had a clue on our little infatuation with one another (they would ALWAYS pair us up for stable duty, did you notice that?) and knew that whatever they said wouldn't affect the outcome much at all. In the end, I professed my love for you all the same.

Just in case you forgot, I am still in love with you. Very very much. I find myself unable to go through a single hour without manifesting a thought of you in my mind at all.

I'm not too good at writing these romantic letters. When you come, I will show you what I mean.

Respond to me quickly, before I die of loneliness, darling!

Your lover for the rest of time,  
H.”

+++

  
Claude's legs were numb. Why? 

"Hilda! Marianne!" He called out, pacing from room to room. Damn it, Hilda always found a way to run off during trips outside and was technically fine, but she always dragged Marianne with her. Unfortunately, Those two made up a large chunk of the small class, and it made for very tricky goose-hunts when the class had to group up for lunch. 

He was still shaken up from seeing the statue of _himself_ in that room earlier. What was up with that? Staring at the uncovered portion of the stone face made Claude's own head throb. Just picturing it again in his mind made his heart pulsate like crazy. Like something, something in the back of his mind was inexplicably screaming: "Remember! Why can't you remember this?! _You have to remember!_ " 

Claude had always been fond of his classmates. Of course, partially because he had no other choice than to get to know them. But he'd only known them for a couple of years. Why did it suddenly feel like decades? 

He would not pay any more attention to the matter. He had to go get the girls. "It's always you, Hilda," he sighed underneath his breath, "never Marianne by herself, never Lysithea or Leonie, nooooo. You just have to be the one who goes missing just when we need you." 

"Claude!" A girl's voice reached out. He turned, and there the two were, hand-in-hand, running over to him. Hilda was leading the pair. "Finally! I was so scared that we got lost." 

"It looks like you girls _did_ get lost," Claude said. "But never mind that- let's go eat." 

"Oooh, yes!" Cheered Hilda. "I'm starving! I was about to eat the museum brochures we got." Though she was hiding behind the girl, Claude spotted a faint smile toying with Marianne's lips. 

He had a good eye for noticing the little things in people. Like the way Hilda sometimes looked at Marianne in class when she was focused on something else. Or how, when asked a question, Marianne would instantly look to Hilda to help her answer it. He could compile a lengthy list of all of Hilda's sneaky schemes if he wanted to. Bumping her legs against Marianne's once in a while during lunchtime. The textbook "fixing their hair" or "let me get that leaf off of you" technique. Really, when she put her mind to it, she was as good of a tactician as he himself was. 

So that's why, as they were walking, he knew something was off. For one, Marianne was actually _looking_ at Hilda a lot more now. No longer were they brisk, embarrassed peeks, but instead, a tender gaze that held itself up. Holy crap, she actually had really pretty eyes! Or was it only because they were watching Hilda? 

"Um, Claude?" she asked softly, startling him. Yep, she definitely changed.

"Yeah?"

"Hilda won't admit it, but she's actually kind of worried for you. You seemed a little frightened when we left the class." 

" _Marianne!_ " Yelped Hilda, a large smile cracking on her face. "Don't expose me like that!" 

"Aww, wittle Hiwlda, wowwied about me?" Claude teased. "I'm okay. I actually took a picture of it." He opened up his phone album. "I even got into the same pose as him. Pretty similar, right?" 

Hilda huffed. "I still don't see it. You pale in comparison to that dude's buff bod." 

"I think you two look very much alike," said Marianne softly. "You share very pretty smiles." 

"Wait wait wait! What's this about Claude's smile? Marianne, what about _my_ smile?" 

"Hilda, you're always smiling."   
  
" _SO IS CLAUDE!_ You have to choose one. Me or him." 

It was then that Marianne burst into a fit of giggles unlike anything the boy had seen coming from her. "Y-you! Of course it's you, Hilda." She laughed. 

Claude took another look at the photo. Huh, the man _was_ smiling. Just beyond the bow that covered the bottom half of his face, the faint smirk on his lips was barely noticeable. But it was there. Claude hadn't noticed that. But now that he had, everything seemed to be alright. The stone archer was not aiming towards the enemy. He was aiming towards... the stars? the future of his land and people? 

Ignatz was starting to rub off on him. 

Still, there was a certain peace in him that lasted throughout the rest of the day. He even left the cafeteria early just to go and confirm the statue's expression. The voice in the back of his mind that was urgently imploring him to "remember" had long since retired into silent, peaceful acceptance. 

_Those two must be special,_ he thought to himself as he returned to the class, which was boarding onto the bus. He watched as Hilda, with ease, took Marianne's hand and guided her up the tall steps. _To have_ _found each other again._


End file.
